An American boy learns Chinese at a primary school in Fairfax County, Virginia.

 

An international symposium on “Chinese Language Globalization: Language and Culture in a Cross-cultural Context” was held from October 25 to 26 at Tongji University in Shanghai.

 

Globalization of the Chinese language is facing hard-won opportunities as China’s comprehensive national power and international status are rising rapidly, scholars said.

 

Measures taken by the Chinese government, such as the launch of Confucius Institutes, advancement of the “Chinese bridge” project, recruitment of TCSL volunteers and holding of the World Chinese Conference, have remarkably promoted the Chinese language to the world.

 

However, many obstacles still loom large. “The extraordinary difficulty of learning Chinese constitutes the largest obstacle,” said Li Mingyu, Party secretary of Beijing Language and Culture University.

 

Regretfully, many TCSL teachers tend to show the profoundness of the Chinese culture by stressing that Chinese is difficult to learn, which instead holds back foreigners who want to learn the language, Li said.

 

It is therefore essential to change the stereotype of “Chinese being difficult to learn” publicly and by technical means, he added. 

 

Regarding how to effectively globalize the Chinese language, Yang Guangjun, president of the Confucius Institute at J.F. Oberlin University in Tokyo, Japan, said it is necessary to understand the learning culture of Chinese-language students.

 

“Language communicators should set teaching goals and explore effective communication and teaching methods on the basis of learners’ needs and their learning culture,” Yang said.

 

By September 2014, the Confucius Institute Headquarters (Hanban) had founded 465 Confucius Institutes and 713 Confucius Classrooms in 123 countries across the world, significantly advancing teaching of the Chinese language and promotion of the Chinese culture.

 

As the Chinese language shoulders the mission to disseminate the Chinese culture, Lu Jianming, a professor at the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Peking University, said one of the most effective  methods is to enable good foreign learners of Chinese to introduce the Chinese culture to their compatriots. 

 

Although language and culture are closely related, Li noted  globalization of the Chinese language should focus on the language itself and its characters.

 

Lu agreed, adding that cultural education should not impact or replace teaching of the Chinese language.